


What now?

by Sharing_a_room_with_an_open_fire



Category: Boyfriend Material - Alexis Hall
Genre: Affection, Boyfriends, Fluff, Going for it anyway because why not, Holding Hands, Is Luver a little too on the nose for a ship name?, Kissing, M/M, POV First Person, POV Luc O’Donnell, Post-Canon, Rolled tofu from Bronwyn, Starts just after canon’s last scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:08:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29067807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharing_a_room_with_an_open_fire/pseuds/Sharing_a_room_with_an_open_fire
Summary: Could I ask him to lunch? No, the question is—should I ask him to lunch?While I was contemplating what our new relationship status entailed exactly—we said it was supposed to be basically the same but with an admission of feelings—Oliver beat me to it.“Would you like to eat lunch... together? If you have time, that is, and want to...”“I do,” I said, lifting my head and leaving a kiss on his cheek, the corner of his mouth, his lips.Luc and Oliver’s lunch date after they got back together at the end of the book.
Relationships: Oliver Blackwood/Luc O'Donnell
Comments: 22
Kudos: 56





	What now?

**Author's Note:**

> Dear reader, I listened to Boyfriend Material in one go through the night and got so invested that I started writing almost immediately.  
>   
> Hope you will enjoy this fluffy ficlet. 💙  
>   
> As always lots of gratitude to my friend Blue [mybluebucketofsnow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mybluebucketofsnow/pseuds/mybluebucketofsnow) for beta. 💙  
>   
> Blue was also the one who suggested I read this book. That was last summer but I'm slow with starting to read/listen.
> 
> * * *

# Luc

I’d like to say that after Oliver and I got back together, we stayed on my doorstep for hours talking and kissing. But that was not the case.

”Lucien,” his breath ghosted over my temple. ”I… well, I want to stay but— ”

”You need to go to work,” I chuckled into his shoulder.

“Yes,” he breathed out a shaky laugh, his arm tightened over my back.

I didn't want him to leave. Which might be considered childish. And it probably was.

I needed to go to work too of course. Even though it was easier for me to show up late than it was for Oliver.

Could I ask him to lunch? No, the question is — _should_ I ask him to lunch?

While I was contemplating what our new relationship status entailed exactly — we said it was supposed to be basically the same but with an admission of feelings — Oliver beat me to it.

“Would you like to eat lunch... _together_? If you have time, that is, and want to...”

“I do,” I said, lifting my head and leaving a kiss on his cheek, the corner of his mouth, his lips.

“I’ll bring lunch to your office,” I offered, “to the bench.”

Then I kissed him some more, and didn't stay behind on my doorstep to watch him go.

No, I did in fact do that. I waited until he was completely out of sight before taking the stairs back to my flat. It's—

Oliver came back. _For me_. Because he loves me. Because he's in love with me.

So it's not that I was worried that he’d take it all back the moment we are not physically close to one another.

Or that I needed to be close to him all the time. I'm not that needy. Or maybe I am. I probably am.

Oliver is needy too. So I guess I'm fine admitting being the same way. Wanting him this much.

Buzzing with newfound energy, I tried the doorknob to my flat. Unlocked. _Good_.

Despite the fact that Priya hasn't locked me out of my flat, as I initially feared, to say that she was supportive of me returning to the bedroom and rummaging through the wardrobe for clean clothes, would be a lie.

“Go away,” she half growled, half yawned into the pillow.

“I'm planning to,” I answered, still grinning.

She lifted her head and gave me a long look.

“What should I wear?” I said, trying to make it sound like a joke. But maybe I was taking it a tad too serious.

Priya threw a pillow at me. I deserved it.

“I'm glad you worked it out,” I heard her voice muffled into the other pillow. “Now leave.”

Showered and dressed, I left for work and ringed Bronwyn as soon as I got to the office.

I ordered rolled tofu for Oliver and for myself. I'm not sure why. I guess I thought it was worth a try. I also bought a brownie for us to share. I didn't want to push him with two brownies.

Oliver gave me a blinding smile when I arrived at our bench. _Our bench_.

“Lucien,” he greeted me and the way Oliver said my name was still making me giddy. Maybe it was always going to.

“Hi.” I grinned like an idiot at him and kissed him before we got seated.

“Rolled tofu from Bronwyn!” Oliver exclaimed in amazement. “Lucien... thank you.”

I tried going for the most nonchalant tone I could pull off, “It's nothing.”

“It's not nothing, it's thoughtful and kind.”

“I care about you,” I blurted out and sighed internally.

There went my prospects of sounding nonchalant.

Why couldn't I stop talking like that? I've been so good at avoiding these topics for years. I thought I was bad at feelings and shit.

However, the Earth didn't swallow me whole from being this vulnerable. Oliver smiled, his hand came to rest atop of mine, his fingers brushed my knuckles.

It felt nice, reassuring and I didn't even look away from him in embarrassment.

Maybe I could do this after all.

“Eat,” I told him after a little while. For _his_ sake, not mine. I apparently preferred holding hands.

Unlike me Oliver works hard. I guess I do too at times. But I have the possibility of taking breaks anytime I wish so. He's the one on the clock.

“You’ve got the same?” Oliver asked in surprise as I opened my container.

“I thought I would give it a try,” I said and didn’t mention that I wanted to be able to share food with him sometimes.

Baby steps. I’d keep that secret for a while.

He looked at me quizzically, possibly not believing me at all.

I gave him my best reassuring smile and took a bite.

We ate and talked about his day at work, my day at work.

It was nice, easy and yet it sent butterflies to my stomach.

We were boyfriends now. Not fake ones. We didn’t pretend anymore. Although one could argue there was hardly any pretending to begin with.

Nevertheless, all cards were on the table now, we’ve both come clean about loving each other.

“What do you think of the tofu then?” Oliver asked, watching me finish my food.

“Not as bad as I expected,” I confessed. It wasn’t bad, if this was a meal I’d share with Oliver. “I could eat this again.”

I am not sure if he knew what I was thinking, if my eyes traitorously revealed all my feelings, but Oliver blushed slightly.

I did too and thought how it might be the wrong place, to blush on a bench.

“Don't expect this every time we eat lunch at your work,” I said, desperately needing to change the subject.

“ _Oh_?” he chuckled and gave me one of those looks where I already knew he was going to make a joke. “And here I thought our relationship clause involved rolled tofu from Bronwyn every workday.”

“Should have read the fine print more carefully,” I retorted, shrugging. “And here I thought you knew that already with you being a barrister.”

Oliver gazed into my eyes for a few moments without saying anything at all. Then he put the container on the opposite side of himself.

His palm came up to my cheek, rubbing it gently with his thumb.

I could feel my blush deepen. His too. And so I decided that I didn’t care if we were on a bench, and anyone could see our tender private moment.

Oliver’s silver-grey eyes had my complete attention, mesmerizing me with their intensity.

“I love you,” he said and somehow it sounded different than this morning.

Less desperate and more, well, I guess it was more happy. In not ‘ _we are getting back together’_ way but ‘ _we are together’_.

Maybe months ago I would have made a joke even now. Because I’d be too insecure, too at a loss for words, _real_ words. Words that mattered.

And when I think about it, it's not Oliver’s absence or me thinking I've lost him, that has altered me drastically. Although it did affect me a lot.

But what has truly made a difference was the time we’ve spent together, all of it.

Oliver didn't change me. But he was there while I was doing the changing. Being there, supporting me.

“I love you, Oliver,” I leaned in, my eyes still focused on his.

Then I kissed him. Because that's what we were doing now. Confessing our love to each other and snogging.

And that's how I wanted it to be — forever.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. 💙


End file.
